To Everyone I Must Admit (May 2006)

To everyone I must admit, I used to be one of those people ashamed of working in a call center. Digesting the initial statement, I’m more than sure my fellow agents won’t think twice of puking in front of me or worse, violently drag me out the building with extreme prejudice. It was only a recent encounter with high school colleagues I knew my solid devotion for my job.


Few days ago I went out with some pals. Not seeing each other for years means nonstop chatting over an unlimited supply of alcohol and cigarettes. From the never-ending matters of the heart to the admirable status of the Philippine politics (flip your brains to know what I mean), nothing was spare from severe tongue-lashing. And having able to overcome the insanity brought about by the dominance of Britney Spears and some other teeny boppers, we finally talked about something of huge importance…our present lives.


All of us keep jobs on various fields. We have an account executive for an ad agency, a public health instructor, a segment producer for the Philippines’ number one network (guess which…highly debatable), a business owner, a graphic artist, and most essential of all, a call center agent. I began to feel a bit awkward when the began taking turns in telling stories about how they enjoy their jobs, how they get to meet different people, how they enjoy long hours of night slumber, how they find ample time going to the gym, how flexible and spontaneous their schedule is, and how they find pleasure in watching “Desperate Housewives.” In short they think they’ve got normal lives because they have day jobs. The truth came when one of them said, “Ruel quit your job.” That very minute, I was storming the pillars of hell to transform me to a devil and kick their butts way out of the bar, or strangle their necks til kingdom come, or just simply demand for a knife and commit multiple homicide. But puhleeze…that’s too gross and melodramatic, if you know what I mean.

Yes there is a spark of truth when they said my work is no dice compared to what they do. Yes most call centers are stressed. Imagine living most of your life sleeping at night then all of a sudden you have to do the reverse. There are countless near-death experiences on the floor due to the overwhelming politeness and good manners of the Americans. Our blood pressure fluctuates on every call, which according to experts, can lead to paralysis, or at some rare cases, nervous breakdown. We hear wholesome words like F*$@ YAH A$%HOLE RUB YAH SH#^ ON YAH FACE! Amazing isn’t? Our moms would be very delighted hearing how we are properly treated they’d suggest we make calls for the rest of our lives. Foreigners hang up as if they find nirvana in banging the receiver so be not surprised sensing blood dripping from your ears. And yes the abovementioned is just a quarter of the vast complications swallowed by a call center agent. With those few reasons, you can simply opt to drop your headset, walk out of the door, find a day job, and live a so-called normal life. But that’s bull! It is your right to chicken out and I don’t care about it, but where is the essence in that?


Going back to the drinking sessions, I have all the right to go ballistic over the criticisms thrown at my direction. Agreeing to them would mean I chicken out. I recall my mom telling me the art of balancing ego and humility. Sorry mom, but for once let me put some more weight on the ego side.

Ladies and gentlemen, members of the third kind, and even to the fourth, let me tell you something about call center agents. Some people think we simply sit like ducks for eight hours and chitchat til we reach early stages of larynx infections. Well some people are wrong. There are a lot more scenarios happening behind every station in a call center than what others think. We get massive insults, daily dosage of rudeness, system problems, and language barriers. I also abhor the racial discrimination we get from a few people we talk with. It is not our fault why some American businessmen outsource here in the Philippines. Having said that, earning a minimum of at least P18, 000 per month in a call center is not as easy as how others perceive because there is also such a thing called quota. Every pay period we have to meet certain standards in order to stay in business, otherwise go live a so-called normal life. That is if normal for you means earning a monthly paycheck equivalent to our meal and transportation allowances and bonuses combined excluding the basic salary (READ: EXCLUDING THE BASIC SALARY). And who said we are stagnant? Day in and day out we exercise our speech prowess, grammar, and errrr…American accent, not to mention mundane conversations over cigarettes and coffee at three in the morning.


The call center planet is filled with diversity --- there are single moms, single dads, singles, doubles, introverts, extroverts, queers, social climbers, chain smokers (more than 80%), anti-social, anti-Christ, sex maniacs, guys who like guys, girls who desire girls, rockers, pretenders, wannabes, and there are people with attitude problem; attention deficit disorder; multiple personality disorder; obsessive-compulsive disorder; and autism --- just find your spot. 


By the end of the night, instead of building grudges against my pals, I focused on a lesson: The real world isn’t about what your job is. As long as you are happy, well-compensated, you mature and you've got a nice grip on your craft, who damn cares? And just like making calls, life is about laying our purpose and delivering correct rebuttals in every objection; it is about incessantly trying to locate the light despite total darkness; it is about having a slice of contentment, a glass of humility, and a teaspoon of respect.


To everyone I must admit, I am a call center agent.


***Before I ended up with Thomson Reuters in June of 2009 then with Netsuite in April of 2010, I was a call center agent for around 3 years. I was still with ePerformax when I wrote this narrative way back in May 2006. We do surveys the whole night. Thrilling!